


Get Back Up Again

by P3nny_Dreadful



Series: The Demons of Hell's Kitchen [4]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Alternate History, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Parental Matt Murdock, Pre-Spider Bite Peter Parker, no beta we die like men, not entirely canon compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:00:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25280515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/P3nny_Dreadful/pseuds/P3nny_Dreadful
Summary: It's every kid's dream to be a superhero and save the day. Then aliens from space attacked New York and the heroes of comics came to life in front of his eyes. Now, Peter can say that he's living that dream.Sorta.It's a bit of a gray area.He can also definitively say that being a vigilante sucks. Especially while you're bleeding out in the dirty alleyways of Hell's Kitchen.
Relationships: Matt Murdock & Peter Parker
Series: The Demons of Hell's Kitchen [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1742146
Comments: 1
Kudos: 66





	Get Back Up Again

It's summer now, and thank god for that. He could not stand another moment of being in school. Now, don't get him wrong, he likes school. Kinda. It's just that he can't take anymore of having to learn while feeling like kin to a zombie. With school out of the way he could finally dedicate himself to being the Leviathan full time. 

He's sitting out on a park bench, ice cream slowly dripping onto his hand. Matt had canceled their training for that day so Peter had decided to take a free day. The wind slightly ruffles his hair as he licks the melting treat. 'This is nice.' He thinks. The sounds of children running around as they enjoyed the freedoms of summer, mothers chatting amongst one another, it all made for a relaxing atmosphere. Between training with Matt, going out at night, and school, he never really got to relax much. He takes another lick and nibbles at the cone. 'I should do this again.' Peter mulls over the the idea of taking more frequent breaks. The idea of that seemed weird to him, taking a break, but sitting here was nice. The kids playing, parents relaxing, grandmothers reading, girl being kidnapped, it all made for a good change of pace. 

Wait.

Girl getting kidnapped?

Peter did a double take. 

Some guy had his arm draped around a girl and dragging her away from the park and into an alleyway. Shit. He didn't have his bandanna, his hoodie, or his metal bat. Even if he sprinted home to grab them he wouldn't make it back fast enough to help. Peter stands up and tosses his ice cream in a nearby trashcan. He couldn't stand by knowingly and not do anything. 

He zips up his thin jacket and flips the hood over his head, slipping his hands into the pockets. He approached the alley cautiously, making sure to be as silent as possible. From what he could see, the man kept trying to push her into a van. 'Human trafficking?' Peter wondered. He had one shot where he'd get the element of surprise. He had to make it count. Maybe he could the back of his knees to give the girl a chance to escape? 

"It's rude to eavesdrop kid." 

Peter turns around, flinching. Hands clamp down on his arms and drag him into the alley. "Hey! Caught this kid peeking. You're getting sloppier."

"Shut the fuck up. I'm almost done here anyway."

The guy holding him pushes him closer, "What do you want me to do with this rat? We can't exactly let him live."

Peter twists out of the guy's grip, leaping out of the way. The alley's small, with one way blocked by the van. The only other way out was blocked by the man who had grabbed him earlier. He jumps on one of the trashcans and uses it as a springboard to jump towards the guy closer to the van. Peter front kicks him and uses that momentum to push him down onto the ground. Then he feels himself being slammed into the wall. There's a crack as his head snaps against the stone of the alley wall. 

Peter wakes up in the alley. 

His head hurts and he's slumped over against the wall. Peter reaches up but stops. There's blood on his hands. He glances down. The left side of his torso is bloody. Then the pain registers, waves that feel like he's being stabbed over and over again. 

Wait, stabbed? 

Peter thinks for a bit, tries to remember. He was stabbed after he slammed into the wall. 

No.

Before. The guy he slammed down had a knife. Stupid. God he was so stupid. 

He needs to get to a hospital. No, he can't go to one. Matt. Matt would know what to do. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. He calls Matt's phone. It rings, then goes straight to voicemail. He calls again to get the same results. 'Dammit Matt pick up.'

The sun's beginning to set now. He's not sure how long it's been. It casts a golden hue onto the surrounding buildings and his face. Matt picks up on the third call.

"Hello? Peter?" 

"Matt?"

HIs voice must sound bad since Matt immediately responds with concern, "Peter are you alright?" 

"I think I'm bleeding. Stabbing? My memory's kinda hazy."

"What?! Ok where are you? I'll come get you."

Peter groans a little in pain. He's not sure if he actually responds but he's shaken awake by someone. When did his eyes close? There's a heaviness to everything and he wants to go back to sleep. 

"Hey Peter wake up, don't fall asleep."

He groans out in pain and opens his eyes. "Matt?" He slurs. 

There's someone standing in front of him and it takes Peter a second to actually see the cane and sunglasses. 

"Mr. Murdock? What are you doing here?" Peter's pretty sure he called Matt, plus he doesn't even have Mr. Murdock's number.

"Come on, I'll get you back to my apartment." Mr. Murdock says.

He finds himself being pulled up by Mr. Murdock. A wave of nausea washes over and Peter has to lean over to avoid vomiting on the both of them. The rest of the walk to Mr. Murdock's place is hazy and blurry. Painful and dizzy. 

He's more coherent after they get inside. Mr. Murdock brings him a glass of water which he gulps down greedily. 

Mr. Murdock ruffles through for something. "Jesus Peter," He starts, "what the hell were you doing in that alley?"

It takes him a couple of seconds before it clicks. 

"Wait! Matt? You're a blind lawyer?!"

Mr. Murdock, Matt, gives him a sly grin. A painfully similar sly grin to the one Daredevil gives him and Peter wants to hit himself for not making the connection sooner. He also wants to die right then and there, remembering that one time he'd talked about said lawyer when Matt had given him his name. 

"Hard to believe that _the_ Daredevil and I lived in the same building." Peter says while Matt's stitching up his side, "Especially since I was trying so hard to find you after you saved me." 

Matt grins, "We actually met before, in the store. You bumped into me."

"Oh yeah. I forgot."

"I had to run back home to get the mask. By the time I got back you had already involved yourself in the fight."

Peter chuckles nervously, "Pretty stupid of me right?"

"Stupidly brave."

"How was it that even though we both lived in the same building we never crossed paths? Not even outside."

Matt hums, tying off the thread, "Leaving at different times from different exits. You often stuck closer to the apartment to avoid not returning in time while I go out further as Daredevil. Honestly there are a lot of things."

"A lot of coincidences." 

As Matt applies gauze to his side, Peter wonders how a blind lawyer can effortlessly leap from building to building. "Are you actually blind? I-I mean, not that I think you're lying or anything, it's just..." Peter trails off. 

"It's fine, I get it. How can a blind man do what I do. I was blinded as a kid. Chemical spill. It got into my eyes and I've been blind ever since. When I woke up I could hear the cars from two streets down. It gave me heightened senses. Sounds bounce off objects and let me "see" in a sense, the surroundings around me."

"Woah! That's so cool!" 

They talked a little more after that. Matt offered to let Peter stay after he worried about May noticing his injuries and putting two and two together. Matt had to go after that. Apparently he was working on a case and had to leave, but he told Peter to try to get some rest and loaned him a hoodie. He must've fallen asleep because he woke up to the door opening. A few hours had passed as evident by the lack of sun outside. The purple neon sign outside illuminated the room, casting it in a purple hue. 

"Shit I forgot you were here." Matt says as he enters, a woman trailing behind. "Peter, this is Karen. Karen, this is Peter. I don't have much in the way of food but there's a Thai place just around the corner. It should get here in time if we order now."

Peter gives Karen a little wave, "I didn't know you had a girlfriend."

"I-I don't. Karen's involved in my case. She doesn't feel safe at home so she's staying with me for tonight."

They ended up ordering Thai. No one seemed to really speak until Karen started, "So, how old are you Peter?"

"Uh, I'm turning 12 really soon." Peter said around a mouthful of noodles.

"Already? Kids grow pretty fast don't they."

"Oh, no, Peter's not my son." Matt says quickly, "I'm just watching him for the night."

They headed to bed shortly afterwards. Karen and Matt elected to give Peter the bed, despite his many protests, and Karen took the couch, leaving Matt to sleep on the floor in the bedroom. Peter laid in bed, Matt's bed technically, unable to sleep. The pain kept him awake and thinking about the girl he'd failed to save. He choked back a sob. Failure never tasted so sour. He could faintly hear Matt and Karen talking for a bit. Peter turned around and pretended to be asleep when Matt entered.

"I can hear that you're still awake." Matt said as he gets some blankets from the closet and places them on the floor. Peter doesn't respond. He's not sure how long he lays there, thinking about the alleyway. About being the Leviathan. About a time that seemed so far away but was realistically only months ago. When his biggest fear was forgetting to finish his homework and Flash. Flash used to scare him. Until he went out searching for the Devil and faced real evil. After that, a 5th grader wasn't so scary anymore.

Matt gets up suddenly, startling Peter out of his thoughts. He watches as Matt stand up quickly and hurriedly dresses in his Daredevil outfit. 

He goes back home the next day, choking back apologies and excuses for why he wasn't home yesterday before collapsing in bed. He hadn't been able to sleep much that night, mind plagued with memories of knives and blood. He showers, washes off the blood, dirt, and grime. He doesn't look at the stitched up wound. 

He spends the rest of the day in bed and avoids the kitchen. 

A few days pass after that. He spends them resting because holy shit, moving hurts. He reads about the Union Allied scandal on his phone and thinks back on Karen from Matt's apartment. Despite the days passed, he still can't get pass how he's been living in the same apartment building as Daredevil. He also spends them with feelings of incompetence and failure. The bitter taste of it mixes with the sweetness of escaping death's cold clutches. He's ashamed to even think of the high that it brought. Slumped against that wall, literally feeling his body chill, warm blood gushing sluggishly pass his limp hand. He banishes it from his mind. Clings onto that bitter taste instead. Lets the sword of failure stab into him, let it brand his soul with its wicked steel of defeat and guilt. Guilt because a girl suffered because of him. Because he wasn't good enough.

Wasn't strong enough.

Wasn't enough.

Aunt May notices his lethargy and thinks he's sick. She tells him that she'll pick up something when she finishes her nightshift at Metro-General. 

Then everything explodes in a brilliant array of orange fire and destruction. 


End file.
